Ka Hugo, 3 others nabbed in Sta. Barbara
Police on Wednesday night arrested the top commander of the former rebel group Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) in Panay and three others who were carrying high-powered firearms and P300,000 cash.
Senior Supt. Melvin Mongcal, Iloilo provincial police director, said Demetrio Capilistique alias Ka Hugo, RPA-ABB commander in Panay, was arrested by policemen conducting a patrol around 10:30 p.m. in Barangay Inangayan in Sta. Barbara town around 16 km northwest of Iloilo City.
Also arrested were Capilastique’s brother Jessie and brothers Rustico Cutanda and Cirilo Cutanda.
The policemen recovered five firearms including two Baby Armalite rifles, two .45 caliber pistols, a 9-mm pistol, a .22-caliber hand gun. They also found two hand grenades, three rifle grenades, a bullet proof vest and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The P300,000 cash was contained in a bag found inside the passenger jeepney that the four were riding.
The policemen who were part of the security force guarding the Iloilo international airport accosted the four after they saw one of the suspects tucking a handgun while urinating by the access road leading to the airport site.
Mongcal said the four did not resist arrest but identified themselves as RPA-ABB members. They were taken to the Sta. Barbara police station where they were detained.
Chief Supt. Wilfredo Dulay, Western Visayas police director, said all of the suspects except Rustico Cutanda will be charged for violating the election gun ban. Cutanda who was carrying a .45 caliber pistol presented documents including a permit to carry for the firearm, a safe conduct pass and an exemption from the gun ban.
Mongcal said Demetrio Capilastique will also face a pending warrant of arrest for murder issued by the Iloilo Regional Trial Court Branch 22 on April 22, 1990.
The arrest of the four RPA-ABB members is the third in six days following similar incidents in Laua-an town in Antique and in San Joaquin town, Iloilo.
Soldiers under the 79th Infantry Battalion arrested seven RPA-ABB members and confiscated their high-powered firearms Barangay Nasad-an in San Joaquin town in Iloilo early Wednesday.
The soldiers confiscated five M-6 rifles, one M-4 rifle, one homemade shotgun, two hand grenades and assorted ammunitions.
Last Friday, soldiers under the 79IB also arrested seven RPA-ABB members in Barangay Latason in Laua-an town, Antique and confiscated two M16 rifles, one homemade shotgun, four homemade caliber .38 revolver pistols and ammunitions.
Dulay said the RPA-ABB is violating the provisions of the peace agreement between the former rebel group and the government in December 2000.
The RPA-ABB broke away from Communist Party of the Philippine-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) over ideological differences shortly after 1992 when the CPP launched a "rectification movement".
"They are not supposed to carry firearms outside their designated areas and without the approval of the Commission on Elections," Dulay said in a telephone interview.
Dulay said they have received complaints from politicians and residents that the RPA-ABB members are extorting money and are harassing barangay captains and villagers to support particular candidates.
He declined to name the politicians being supported by the RPA-ABB.
Even if they have safe conduct passes, RPA-ABB members will still be charged for violating the gun ban if they do not have exemption permits from the Commission on Elections, said Dulay.
Dulay has raised the issue to the attention of the Joint Enforcement Monitoring Committee (JEMC) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process.
The five-member JEMC, composed of two representatives from both panels, is tasked to monitor and oversee the enforcement of the provisions of the agreement.